Jernie's Hub

As I have read in one of the newspapers here that Filipinos are the third biggest immigrants here in Canada. In 2006 alone, Chinese immigrants tops at 33,080 followed by the Indians at 30,753 and Filipinos at 17,717. No wonder everywhere I go, I meet ‘kababayans’. I have some friends, ex-colleagues and relatives here in Ontario. This has given me a good chance to reconnect to the Filipino lifestyle. Through them I managed to locate Asian/Filipino shops and restaurants where I could enjoy Filipino dishes which I have been craving for, for quite some time now.

Shops:

Yuan Ming in Mississauga was the first shop I had visited. I can’t believe what I saw! Everything is just there: from the packed and jarred sweets, canned goods, fresh & frozen root crops, vegetables, delicacies, processed meat, to fish. Filipinos can really live here exactly like in the Philippines. Amazing!

We have visited as well the H & H Supermarket, though it’s a Chinese shop but they have a long row of shelves displaying all Filipino products. While standing there confused which items to take, Herbert was teasing me that I’m in paradise. True, because it’s not like that in Germany. The Chinese shop I used to visit there has only 3 items from the Philippines.

Another shop we have been is the FV Foods. I found this in the internet while searching for Filipino delicacies. Looking at their website, it’s definitely a place worth a visit. I can’t believe that they even have ‘nilupak’ (mashed cassava with milk, sugar and cheese). This is a delicacy we enjoyed in our childhood in my hometown in Surigao. We used to make 'nilupak' with our leftover food; it can be cassava, boiled banana or taro. We normally mash either one of them with grated coconut, sugar and milk. Oh, I love it!

From any Filipino shops, one can buy various types of Balikbayan boxes. A balikbayan box (literally returnee's box) is a cardboard box containing novelty items brought by or sent by a Filipino who is returning to the Philippines from a foreign country.[1] These boxes contain non-perishable food items, canned goods, other food items, toiletries, household and kitchen stuffs, time saving devices, computer parts, electronics, toys, designer clothing, personal items, and hard-to-find items in the Philippines.(source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balikbayan_box)

In most cases, balikbayan boxes are now used by Filipinos abroad to send items to the Philippines for their families and friends. Here in Canada it is so popular because the shipping fee is very reasonable. For the same service in Germany will cost Euro 130 which is not comparable at all.

Restaurant:

One evening, I was craving for a Filipino meal. I searched in the internet the closest restaurant we could find and there was ‘Mayette’s Fine Foods’ which is just about 20 minutes drive. I called for a reservation and then we headed our way there. Well, we were the only customer at that time. The owner, Mayette and her husband were so warm and nice enough to welcome and serve us. Going through the menu, it was difficult to decide as I wanted to have many of them. While waiting for the food, we had a very nice talk with her husband. Later on, the food was served. We ordered quite a lot but we did really well as we almost finish everything. It was a very good meal.

(Check-out the website for more info: http://mayettes.com/About%20Mayettes.htm)

Meeting Friends from the Philippines:

My friends Roselle & Ian (my ex-colleagues back in Dubai) invited us for lunch at the Mandarin Buffet in Brampton. The place is nice and very well decorated. Being a Saturday it was expected to be full. Where we were seated is a beautiful hall with the huge wall aquarium as its focal point. It was a good time to talk and enjoy the moment with their very pretty and smart daughters.




The food was certainly good with a very good variety. I highly recommend this restaurant for a family gathering. For a moment, I was feeling that we were back in China. The children can’t get away from the beautiful aquarium.





After lunch, we headed back to their home. A typical Filipino gathering is never complete without the karaoke (kareoke) session. So I made sure I won’t forget to take the `Magic Mic’ karaoke system. Quickly we set-up the system and sung the whole afternoon and evening out. It was a fantastic time with the family. It felt like we were home.


My first westbound trip to meet Lovely:

Another friend from my hometown, Lovely is living also in Brampton. The last time we met was 1989, about 18 years ago. We agreed to meet in Square One, Mississauga. It was my first time to take a public transport. With the instruction she gave me, I tried to search in the net if there’s a site where I could plan my route and print it out as my guide. But to my dismay I couldn’t find anything. I found some forums instead of people looking for the same thing. For such a big city and being a tourist destination I feel it is really necessary to provide such a tool.

In Germany, there is a site where I can go to plan my trip using the public transport. I just have to put the place of origin, destination, the date and time, then the system will give me a list of the trams/bus/train that I should take indicating the stops and connections with specific timings. Likewise, a map of the trip will also be given. So, I could print it out to take with me. If I miss a specific time, I could refer to the plan for the next trip. It’s a perfect tool for travelers and tourists. Anyway, I had no choice but to rely on the transport map I got from the TTC.

I was planning to take a bus to Bloor Street where the station for the westbound train is. But on my way to the bus station I saw the 'Subway' sign, so I took the chance if I could take a train to the Bloor Station. I went to the ticket counter and asked how to get to the Islington Station, I was instructed to take the northbound train to Bloor Station then get-off and get in to the westbound train. So, I dropped $2.75 in the box and walked my way to the train. At the Bloor Station, I stepped-out and looked for the westbound train. With all the signs in place it was easy to find the way. Then at the Islington, I had to look for the bus no.26. The bus schedule is pretty good it was just a few minutes wait. Well, it was my very first bus ride in Canada,. I had $2.50 dropped in the box and asked for a transfer ticket from the driver. Though it was a long ride but it was comfortable. I got off at Square One waiting for Lovely and her husband to pick me up.



I was a bit anxious if I could still recognize her after so many years. I saw her smiling while approaching me and gave each other warm embraces. I can’t believe we’re together. I was really happy seeing her again. She took me to the parking area where her husband was waiting. I met him for the first time. As we got into the car, we quickly started our non-stop conversation. We were dropped at the Yuan Ming shop, and then we headed towards the Square One again, roamed around while catching-up on things. Then we took a bus to the Vietnamese Restaurant. The food there was also good. In the thick snow and heavy snowfall, we walked to catch the bus to their home. We dropped-by the school to pick her daughter up and headed to their home. We spent the whole afternoon in the kitchen baking banana cake and making pizza while sharing some updates. We had so much fun together and as usual the time was flying. Since it was getting dark, I decided to stay and asked Herbert to pick me up. As a consolation, we told him we made an exceptionally delicious pizza for him (lol). After few hours Herbert arrived. I introduced him to Lovely and we sat again for more catching-up to do. Later on, Lovely’s husband arrived and we spent some time together before we had to drive back to downtown.



The second time we visited them was on the New Year. As we were driving to their place, I enjoyed the view outside. Due to the heavy snow the night before, the landscape was awesome. I promised myself to make some pictures with Lovely and the family in their front yard but with all the conversations we had we simply forgot to make one.

They prepared a fantastic lunch (our hometown native dishes). I felt like we were in Surigao. I missed those foods for some time. I have to mention the ‘kinilaw’ (kingfish salad), dried anchovies from Cebu (I love it so much), salmon soup with malunggay, baked milkfish and bam-i (egg noodles). After lunch, we didn’t stand-up anymore from the table as Lovely was serving more and more to eat. We had boiled plantain banana, then we wrapped together spring rolls (lumpia shanghai) and fried it. While talking about our native food and delicacies she quickly remembered she had one of those cassava chips (hayhon). She fried some and prepared our ever-favorite chocolate drink Tablea. I can’t believe what were having on the table. Then she served the freshly baked croissant which the gentlemen really loved. We wanted to go out and play with the snow but we were too heavy to move (lol). It was a nice day with the family and truly a food indulgence. We drove home at around 10pm.

A Birthday Party:

Last week, we were invited to a birthday party of my cousin’s daughter in Scarborough. Knowing it’s another Filipino gathering I was more happy to go. Moreso, I haven’t seen her for about 18 years. She was still a small girl the last time I saw her. As we came to their place we were greeted by the pretty girls and my cousin Yetyet and her husband. There were some guests already having their karaoke session. The hosts were busy preparing the table and receiving more and more guests mainly from Cebu and Surigao. Herbert and I found a corner where we sat and made ourselves comfortable as more guests were coming in.




Yetyet told me that many of the guests were from Tubajon whom I was excited to meet. Then we were introduced to everyone and we started conversations with Boy Luib and the rest of the clan. It was very heart-warming to meet people from my hometown as it does not happen to us often especially in Germany. With Thelma, we started to trace people from our town. Unfortunately, many of those she knows are much older than me: some of them I do know but some I don’t. The reason being is that they have left our town many years ago. We found out that their house in Loreto is not far from ours. We talked about the famous organization of Loretonians in United States and Canada called LUSCAN. This non-political organization has been founded many years ago by the pioneer batch of Loretonians in the U.S. ad Canada but until now it’s still going strong. We also had the chance to talk to the children of Charlie Luib. Though we have never met them before; nevertheless, we had a nice time together.



The table was set with Filipino dishes and of course dominated by the Lechon Baboy (roasted pig). It is quite amusing to observe our custom. Some of the guests brought food with them and shared it to everybody. I love the desserts, some of them I haven’t had for some time. The food was really good. While the others had fun with the karaoke, Herbert and I opted to stay in the corner having conversations with some of the guests. Gatherings like this really made me feel that the Filipinos here are living a Filipino life away from home. Isn’t that great? There’s just a small room for homesickness. Someone told me that if their families and relatives are here then this place is not different from the Philippines.

I realized it’s been some time now that I haven’t posted. We had been busy during the Christmas holiday and the New Year. Thereafter, I put a hold to my usual sight-seeing trips here in the downtown because of the shopping frenzy I was caught-up with.

Just a recap on my whereabouts…

Christmas Holiday:
The pre-Christmas holiday shopping was really an experience. Apart from the fancy decorations we saw, the huge crowd was really overwhelming. Sale & Promotions are everywhere, “buy now and don’t pay until March 2008 or 2009` (I forgot the exact phrase on the shield). What’s that? I buy now and pay 6 months, 1 year or 2 years later? Wow! That’s just new to me, very interesting. Anyways, we managed to get everything we need on time. It was really fun wrapping gifts, setting-up our Christmas tree and decorating our flat. We didn’t do much though as we will just be leaving our things behind. Well, just enough to have that Christmas spirit.

On December 22, we drove to Niagara-on-the-Lake to spend Christmas there with Herbert’s cousins, nephew and nieces. We had to do the exchange of gifts earlier as the cousins will be spending the Christmas with their families respectively. As soon as we arrived in the afternoon, we were greeted by Herbert’s cousin and the family. With the kids around, we were so happy and enjoyed doing things together.

While Aunt Rosie was busy preparing for dinner, we kept ourselves busy building the Ginger Bread house. I haven’t done it before so I was so curious what it is all about. Then we started with the kids, step by step building it and showcased everyone’s creativity to decorate it. I find it a very important family tradition for Christmas. I would love to do it at home with my kids (in the near future). We took some pictures as the nephew would make a scrapbook with it.





When the house has gone quiet, we decided to pull-out our karaoke (karaoke) microphone. We orchestrated the activity, I was then pretty sure that the kids will love it. So we all had taken our part, it was really fun. Later on, we dress-up for the dinner. I was looking forward to try the roast Turkey. I had always wanted to see how to prepare it and of course taste it.



After dinner, we convened at the living room to sing the carol songs lead by Aunt Rosie, a family moment. While we were singing, I can’t help but remember the Christmas celebration with my family back home especially our Christmas days in the province when we were little. How I treasure those times when things were still simple and yet meaningful and happy. Then we started the exchange gifts. Of course, the children were so ecstatic about it…gifts, gifts and more gifts. After few hours catching-up on things, we called the night-off.



The day after, we were left alone with Aunt Rosie as the cousins head their way back to their homes. We spent the day relaxing and in the evening we attended a Candlelight Concert in town. It was a great Christmas presentation.



The day after, Aunt Rosie and I had to go for ladies’ pampering appointment at the beauty salon in the morning. For the Christmas Eve dinner, we were joined by some friends and neighbors.

On Christmas day, it was still cold and lots of snow. We decided to spend the afternoon to take a walk around the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake. It was a soothing walk after days and days of eating spree: enjoying the sights around, the beautiful and grandiose houses/villas, a wonderful time by the lake, a walk at the golf course and a visit to the historical monument of the town.





The next day, we planned to watch the Penguin Club event (bathing in ice-cold water) by the Niagara Lake but for some reasons we completely forgot about it. In the afternoon, we headed back to downtown as we had dinner invitation to Herbert’s colleague’s home.

We met the family in their beautiful home. Since the family has German and Italian roots we had lots of things to discuss about. They are such a wonderful, warm, hospitable and very successful family.

Welcoming the New Year 2008:

We decided to spend the New Year in downtown to witness the countdown at the Nathan Philips Square. We initially planned to have a Japanese dinner but the restaurant was fully-booked. Another Japanese Restaurant we like is quite a distance from downtown which means we have to drive to and back. Being a New Year’s Eve, Herbert didn’t want to drive. He was not familiar how safe will it be on the road at this time. So, we ended-up preparing dinner at home. Thanks to the internet, I manage to find a special menu. We went down to the St. Lawrence market to find good lobsters. This place is really perfect when it comes to fresh sea foods. We finally found our stuff. To my surprise most of the shops/stalls there were manned by Filipinos. I can’t believe they approached me in Tagalog. It is very heart-warming to meet Kababayans. Fresh vegetables and fruits are also available.



We had everything except wines. Since, the liquor store is just next door we decided to go down in the afternoon. It was crazy when we went down because the store was packed and there was a long queue outside. OMG! As I have mentioned in my previous posts that here in Canada the alcoholic drinks and cigarettes are controlled and run by the government meaning people can buy alcoholic beverages in designated store. Well, we queued for few minutes but it was just too much to stand there so long to get bottles of wines. Since, we still had some, we decided to drop it and manage with what we had. Am I learning gourmet? No, not yet but maybe in the future. With the help of the recipe we manage to pull a very wonderful dinner that evening.

At around 10:30pm we geared-up to walk to the square for the countdown. Though it was cold, snowing and heavy pouring-rain, we enjoyed and treasured that walk very much. We were re-capping how we spent the year, what we have achieved and our future plans. We were just laughing that exactly a year ago, we were in China and now in Canada. What a lifestyle!

As we were closing to the square the streets are full, everybody is heading to the same direction. We could hear the band playing rock music, the place was really full. We couldn’t go closer to the stage, instead we found a nice corner right across the square, and it was a good location to witness the fireworks. It was amazing to watch young people, families and couples who gathered around to welcome the New Year. Not long after, the countdown has started and I set my camera ready to take shots of the fireworks display.




But to my dismay, the firework lasted only about 10 seconds. I was asking "That was it?"Maybe it was just a prelude, so we stood put and waited as the music kept on playing. Then another set of display came on so I positioned myself to take a picture but before I can take one, it was gone and over. Oh No! I can’t believe it. I kept on asking…what? That was it? I had a hard time accepting that it was really over but when I saw the wave of the crowd moving away from the square, it gave me the sign that it was really over, it’s over. We can’t stop talking about it. We had very high expectations in terms of fireworks because in all places we have spent the New Year in had a crazy fireworks display: in Germany, in the Philippines and recently in China. One more strange thing is that, there was no single soul in the downtown who did firecrackers…nothing as in nothing. nichts! So we assume that maybe there is a law here which prohibits such things. Six hours before we were talking to my Parents-in-laws in Germany that they had a crazy firework. One of our neighbors there took the whole football team in the neighborhood and they did this humongous firework. Worried that the streets and our front garden was full of trash, the next morning my Parents-in-law were relieved to see that the young people had done their part of cleaning the place.

Nevertheless, we were also happy to observe how people get-together, walk together hand-in-hand, and even honk their cars shouting and singing happy New Year. It was a nice experience too. As we were walking close to our place, it was so quite-not many people outside.




On New Year’s Day, we greeted our day of taking and making phone calls from families, relatives and friends all over the world. Before lunch, we headed to Brampton to spend the day with a friend of mine and her family from Loreto, Surigao . We had a great day together. (I will write a separate entry regarding meeting friends from Loreto to cover it in detail.)